ICYMI: VICE News Spotlights Shimkus’ Yucca Mountain Efforts

10.02.18

WASHINGTON, DC – Subcommittee on Environment Chairman John Shimkus (R-IL) took VICE News behind-the-scenes of a bipartisan congressional delegation tour at the Yucca Mountain site to highlight his ongoing work to find a permanent solution to America’s nuclear waste storage problem.

Congress designated Yucca Mountain over 30 years ago as the site for our nation’s first permanent geologic repository to dispose of spent nuclear fuel and nuclear waste, but the Obama administration pulled the plug on the project in 2010. #SubEnvironmentChairman Shimkus has led the fight to complete the licensing review for the Yucca Mountain site and get our nation’s nuclear waste disposal back on track.

“If completed, Yucca Mountain will be safe for this type of storage for a million years,” said#SubEnvironmentChairman Shimkus to VICE News.

Last year, Energy and Commerce passed the Nuclear Waste Policy Amendments Act (NWPAA), authored by Rep. Shimkus, out of committee by a bipartisan vote of 49-4. In May, the House passed the bill by an overwhelming 340-72 vote. The NWPAA would restart the long-stalled process for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s review of the license to build a repository at Yucca Mountain.

Click here to watch the full segment, ‘The U.S. still can’t figure out what to do with its nuclear waste,’ online.